Second-seeded Ben Shelton halted the stunning run by unseeded Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan, 6-3, 6-4, on Saturday to advance to the finals at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany.
Shelton will face fourth-seeded Italian Flavio Cobolli, who stunned top-seeded and defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany, 6-3, 6-3.
Shelton, who lost to Zverev in the 2025 title match, did not produce his usual superior services, but only faced one break point in the match. He managed to break Molcan late in each set
to advance to his seventh ATP Tour final.
Cobolli blistered 32 winners on the clay and lost only eight points on his serve against his good friend Zverev. It was the Italian's first-ever win over a Top-5 opponent. He broke the big-serving German four times, including in the final game of the match.
Shelton leads the all-time series, 3-2, winning all three matchups in 2025.
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Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia and ninth-seeded Frenchman Arthur Fils each needed three sets to advance to the finals of the ATP 500 clay-court event.
Rublev rallied to knock off Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while Fils came from behind to outlast Spain's Rafael Jodar, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Rublev reached his 29th ATP final by capturing the final four games of the match. He converted 4-of-9 break point chances, while Medjedovic was 1-of-6.
Fils halted Jodar's eight match winning streak by cracking 28 winners to only 11 for the 19-year old upstart. With the third set knotted at 3-3, Fils staved off four break points, broke Jodar's serve and turned back two more break chances in the final game to prevail.
They have split two previous on-court matches, with Fils winning on clay, capturing a two-set decision in the 2025 event in Monte-Carlo.
--Field Level Media
